admonish their Brother or Sister before they tell the Church and it is desired of all that before they publickly complain they so wait in the Power of God to feel if there is no more required of them to their Brother or Sister before they expose him or her to the Church Let this be weightily considered 8. And farther when the Church is told and the party admonisht by the Church again and again and he or she remain still unsensible or unreconciled let not final Judgment go forth against him or her till every one of the Meeting hath cleared his or her Conscience that if any thing be insisted upon any farther to visit such a Transgressour they may clear themselves if possibly the party may he reacht and saved and after all clear of the Blood of such an one Let the Judgments of Friends in the Power of God go forth against him or her as moved for the Lord's Honour and Glory's Sake that no reproach may come or rest upon God's Holy Name Truth and People 9. As much as possible can be let all Difference be ended by some honest Friends and trouble not the Monthly or Quarterly Meetings with them and if that will not doe proceed to your particular Monthly Meetings but if they be not there ended neither then take aside six honest Friends out of the Quarterly Meeting and let them hear and determine the matter and in case any Person or Persons be so obstinate as that they refuse the Sense and Love of Friends and will not comply with them then to proceed towards them according to the way of Truth in such Cases 10. That all such as behold their Brother or Sister in a Transgression go not in a Rough Light or upbraiding Spirit to reprove or admonish him or her but in the Power of the Lord and Spirit of the Lamb in the Wisdom and Love of the Truth which suffereth thereby to admonish such an Offender so may the Soul of such a Brother or Sister be seasonably and effectually reach'd unto and overcome and have cause to bless the Name of the Lord on their behalf and so a blessing may be rewarded into the Bosom of the Faithful and tender Brother or Sister that so admonisheth 11. And be it known unto all we cast out none from among us for if they go from the Light and Spirit and Power in which our Unity is they cast out themselves and it has been our way to admonish them that they may come to the Spirit and Light of God which they are gone from and so come into the Unity again Foâ— our Fellowship standeth in the Light that the World hateth and in the Spirit that the World grieveth vexeth and quencheth and if they will not hear our Admonitions the Light condemneth them and then goeth our Testimony out against them 12. That no Condemnation is to go farther than the Transgression is known and if he or she return and give forth a Condemnation against him or her self which is more desireable than that we should do it this is a Testimony of his or her Repentance and Resurrection before God his People and the whole World As David when Nathan came to admonish him Psalm 51. 13. That no Testimony by way of Condemnation be given forth against any Man or Woman whatever crime they commit before Admonition and till such time as they have had Gospel-order according to Christ's Doctrine 14. And if any Brother or Sister hear any Report of any Brother or Sister let him or her go to the Party and know the Truth of the Report and if true let the thing be judged if false go thou to the Reporter and let him or her be judged and if any should report it at a second or third hand without going to the party of whom the Report goeth let such be brought to Judgment for thou shalt neither raise nor suffer a false Report to lie upon my People saith the Lord for they are to be Holy as he is Holy and Just as he is Just 15. And if any Controversie or Weakness should appear in either Mens or Womens Meeting let it not be told out of your Meetings because such Speeches tend to the defaming of such Persons and Meetings and to the Hurt of the common Unity and Breach of the Heavenly Society and Previlege This is an account of what passed in that Meeting Next day notice being already given we had a large publick Meeting in which the sound of the everlasting Gospel Testament and Covenant went forth and the Meeting ended with a sweet and weighty Sense that Evening we had a more select meeting of Friends than the day before in which the Nature of Marriage and the practice of Friends relating to it and other things were very weightily and closely discoursed the Resolutions were these following 1. A Scruple concerning the Law of the Magistrate about Marriage being proposed and discoursed of in the fear of God among Friends in a Select Meeting it was the universal and unanimous sense of Friends that joining in Marriage is the work of the Lord only and not of Priest or Magistrate For 't is God's Ordinance and not Man's and therefore Friends cannot consent that they should join them together for we Marry none 't is the Lord's Work and we are but Witnesses 2. But yet if a Friend through tenderness have a desire that the Magistrate should know it before the Marriage be concluded they may publish the same after the thing hath by Friends been found clear and after the Marriage is performed in a publick Meeting of Friends and others according to the Holy Order and Practice of Friends in Truth throughout the World the manner of the holy Men and Women of old to go and carry a Copy of the Certificate to the Magistrate they are left to their freedom herein that if they please they may Register it But for Priests or Magistrates to marry or join any in that Relation it 's not according to Scripture and our Testimony and Practice have been alwaies against it It was God's work before the Fall and it 's God's work only in the Restoration 3. If any Friend have it upon him to reprint any Book already Printed and approved either in England or here they may do it upon their own Charges 4. It is also agreed that the care of reading and approving Books be laid upon some of every Meeting to the end no Book may be Publisht but in the Unity yet any other faithful Friends not so Nominated are not thereby excluded though in all these cases it is desired that all would avoid unnecessary Disputes about words which profit not but keep in the love that Edifieth 5. It is farther concluded that the general Stock of the Quarterly Meeting be not disposed of but by the consent of the Quarterly Meeting but if betwixt times there should be a pressing necessity concerning the Publick let that monthly Meeting where it
me and my Friends the last night if it be his Will But since thou art a mortal Man one that must give an Account in common with all to the Immortal God let me a little expostulate with thee By what Law on Earth are Men not scandalous under no Proscription harmless Strangers about lawful Occasions and Men not Vagabonds but of good Quality in their own Country stopt menaced sent back with Souldiers and that at Sun-set exposed to the Night in an unknown Country and therefore forced to lie in the Fields I say by what Law are we judged yea thus punished before heard Is this the Jus Gentium or Germanicum Naturale or Christianum Oh! Where 's Nature Where 's Civility Where 's Hospitality But where 's Christianity all this while Well but we are Quakers Quakers What 's that for a Name Is there a Law of the Empire against that Name No Did we own it No but if we had the letters of that Name neither make up Drunkard Whore-master Thief Murderer nor Traitor Why so odious then What harm hath it done Why could Jews pass just before us that have crucified Christ and not Quakers that never crucified him but Ignorance is as well the Mother of Persecution as Devotion and the false Christian and the false Jew have but one Father But Argumentum ad hominem my Friend bear with me a little Art thou a Christian How canst thou be rude uncivil and persecute then Thou art to love Enemies not abuse Friends harmless Strangers Well but this Life is dead this Doctrine antiquated Jesus Christ turn'd out of doors I perceive What art thou for a Christian A Lutheran Yes Canst thou so lately forget the Practises of the Papists and with what Abhorrence thy Ancestors declared against such sort of Entertainment Were not they despised mocked and persecuted And are their Children treading in the steps of their old Enemies Friend 't is not reformed Words but a reformed Life that will stand thee instead 't is not to live the life of the Unregenerate Worldly-minded and Wicked under the Profession of the Saint's Words that will give an Entrance into God's rest Be not deceived such as thou Sowest such must thou Reap in the Day of the Lord. Thou art not come to the Berean-state that tried all things and therefore not noble in the Christian sense the Bereans were noble for they judged not before Examination And for thy saying We want no Quakers here I say under favour you do for a true Quaker is one that trembleth at the Word of the Lord that worketh out his Salvation with fear and trembling and all the Days of his appointed Time waiteth in the Light and Grace of God till his great Change cometh and that taketh up the daily Cross to his Will and Lusts that he might do the Will of God manifested to him by the Light of Jesus in his Conscience and according to the holy Precepts and Examples in the holy Scriptures of Truth laid down by Jesus and his followers for the Ages to come Yea he is one that loveth his Enemies rather than feareth them that Blesseth those that Curse him and prayeth for those that despitefully treat him as God knoweth we do for thee And O that thou wert such a Quaker Then wouldst thou Rule for God and act in all things as one that must give an account to God for the Deeds done in the Body whether Good or Evil. Then would Temperance Mercy Justice Meekness and the Fear of the Lord dwell in thy Heart and in thy Family and Country Repent I exhort thee and consider thy latter End for thy Days are not like to be many in this World therefore mind the things that make for thy Eternal Peace least Distress come upon thee as an armed Man and there be none to deliver thee I am Thy Well-wishing Friend W.P. Duysburgh 3d. 7th m. 1677. S.V. This having done we went to Dr. Mastricht's to inform him of what had past who tho' of a kind Disposition and very friendly to us yet seemed surprized with fear the Disease of this Country crying out What will become of this poor Countess Her Father hath called her Quaker a long time behaving himself very severely to her but now he will conclude she is one indeed and he will lead her a lamentable Life I know said he you care not for suffering but she is to be pittied We told him that we both loved her and pittied her and could lay down our Lives for her as Christ hath done for us in the Will of God if we could thereby do her good but that we had not mentioned her Name neither was the Letter that he gave us to her so much as seen or known of her Father But still he feared that our Carriage would incense the Graef so much the more against both his Daughter and all those serious and inquiring People up and down the Country We answered with an earnestness of Spirit That they had minded the Incensings and Wrath of Men too much already and true Religion would never spring or grow under such fears and that it was time for all that felt any thing of the Work of God in their Hearts to cast away the slavish fear of Man and to come forth in the boldness of the true Christian life yea that Sufferings break and make way for greater Liberty and that God was wiser and stronger than Man We askt him if there were any in that City who enquired more diligently after the way of the Lord he recommended us as we had already been informed in another place to the Family of the Praetor or chief Governour of the Town whose Wife and Sister more especially were seeking after the best things So we parted with him in love and by the help of his Daughter were conducted to this Family We had not been long there before a School-master of Dusseldorp and withal a Minister came in enquiring after us having hâ—ard at Mulheim where he preached the day before to the People or else by the way of our attempt to visit that place and the Entertainment we received at the hands of the Gâ—â—ef He sat down with us and though we had already a sweet Opportunity yet feeling the Power to rise the Meeting renewed And O magnified be the Name of the Lord he witnessed to our Testimony abundantly in all their Hearts and Consciences who were broken into much tenderness and certainly there is a blessed Power and Zeal stirring in that young Man yea he is very near the Kingdom So we took our Leave of them leaving the Lord's Peace and Blessing upon them It was now something past the 12th Hour of the Day In the way to our Lodging we met a Messenger from the Countess a pretty young tender Man near to the Kingdom who saluted us in her Name with much love telling us That she was much grieved at the Enteâ—tainment of her Father towards us advising us not
and have beheld his Glory and confessed it to be the Glory of the only begotten Son of God and who by Obedience to his appearance are become the Children of Light and of the Day and as the First-Fruits to God after this long Night of Apostacy might for ever walk and dwell in his holy Covenant Christ Jesus the Light of the World because in him we have always Peace but out of him comes all the Trouble And whilst this heavenly Sense rested with me the Lord God that made me and called me by his Grace unto Salvation laid it upon me to visit you in an holy Exhortation And it is the Exhortation of my Life at this time in the earnest and fervent Motion of the Power and Spirit of Jesus to beseech you all who are turned to the Light of Christ that shineth in your Hearts and believe in it That you carefully and faithfully walk in it in the same Dread Awe and Fear in which you began that that holy Poverty of Spirit that is precious in the Eyes of the Lord and was in the Days of your first Love may dwell and rest with you that you may daily feel the same heavenly Hunger and Thirst the same Lowliness and Humility of Mind the same Zeal and Tenderness and the same Sincerity and Love unfeigned that God may fill you out of his heavenly Treasure with the Riches of Life and crown you with holy Victory and Dominion over the God and Spirit of this World That your Alpha may be your Omega and your Author your Finisher and your first Love your last Love that so none may make Shipwrack of Faith and of a good Conscience nor faint by the Way And as in this State we are kept in holy Watchfulness to God as in the beginning the Table which our heavenly Father spreads and the Blessings with which he compasseth us about shall not become a Snare unto us nor shall we turn the Grace and Mercies of the Lord into Wantonness but we shall eat and drink in an holy Fear apparel our selves in Fear buy and sell in Fear visit one another in Fear keep Meetings and there wait upon the Lord in Fear yea whatsoever we take in hand to do it shall be in the holy Fear of God and with an holy Tenderness of his Glory and Regard to the Prosperity of his Truth yea we shall deny our selves not only in the unlawful things but in the things that are even lawful to us for the Sake of the many Millions that are unconverted to God For my Friends and Brethren God hath laid upon us whom he hath honoured with the beginning of his great Work in the World the Care both of this Age and of the Ages to come that they may walk as they have us for Examples yea the Lord God hath chosen you to place his Name in you the Lord hath entrusted you with his Glory that you might hold it forth to all Nations and that the Generations unborn may call you Blessed Therefore let none be Treacherous to the Lord nor reward him Evil for Good nor betray his Cause directly by wilful Wickedness nor indirectly by Negligence and Unfaithfulness But be zealous and valiant for Truth on Earth let none be slothful or careless O remember the slothful Servant's State And let the loving-kindness of the Lord overcome every Soul to Faithfulness For with him are Riches and Honour and every good thing And whither should any go he hath the words of Eternal Life O let none loose their Testimony but hold it up for God let thy Gift be never so small thy Testimony never so little Through thy whole Conversation bear it for God and be true to what thou art convinced of And wait all upon the Lord that you may grow in your heavenly Testimony that Life may fill your Hearts your Houses and your Meetings that you may daily wait to know and to receive Power to do the Will of God on Earth as it is in Heaven And O! that the Cross of Jesus may be in high and honourable Esteem with every one that the Liberty of all may stand in the Cross which alone preserveth for it is the Power of God that crucifieth us to the World and the World to us And through Death way is made unto Life and Immortality which by this blessed Cross the Gospel the Power is brought to Light So shall the Seed of Life that God hath sown in our Hearts grow and in that Seed shall we all come to be Blessed unto whom God hath appointed the Dominion over us and it is good for all to live under the Holy Government of it for the Ways of it are the Ways of Pleasantness and all its Paths are Peace and all that are born of it can say Thy Scepter is a Scepter of Righteousness And O! That all Friends every where may continually bow unto his righteous Scepter and keep to his holy Law which is written in their Hearts that it may be a Light to their Feet and a Lanthorn to their Paths So shall they come to witness that holy Promise made good unto them That the Spirit which I have given unto him the Seed and the Words which I have put into his Mouth shall not depart from him nor from his Seed nor from his Seed's Seed unto all Generations Wherefore Friends redeem the Time because the Days are Evil God hath given you to see they are so and be ye separated more and more yea perfectly disentangled from the Cares of this World And be ye not cumbred with the many things but stand loose from the things that are seen which are Temporal And you that are Poor murmur not but be Patient and trust in the Lord and submit to his Providence and he will provide for you that which is convenient for you the Days of your appointed Time And you that are Rich keep in the Moderation and strive not to multiply earthly Treasure nor to heap up uncertain Riches to your selves but what God hath given you more than what is convenient for your own Use wait for his Wisdom to employ it for his Glory that you may be faithful Stewards of this World 's Mammon and the Lord God shall reward you into your Bosoms of the Riches of that Kingdom that shall never have an End O my Friends and Brethren whether Rich or Poor in Bonds or at Liberty in whatsoever State you are the Salutation of the universal Life of Jesus is to you And the Exhortation is to bow to what is made known unto you and in the Light by which ye have received in measure the Knowledg of God watch and wait diligently to the farther Revelation of the Mind and Will of God unto you that ye may be endued from on High with Power and Might in your inward Man to answer the call and requirings of the Lord that ye may be enabled to make known to the Nations what is the Riches
and trembling and lose not that sweet and precious Sense that the Lord hath begotten in thee it is soon lost at least weakened but hard to recover wherefore let not the Spirit of the World in any of its appearances vain Company unnecessary Discourse or Words or worldly Affairs prevail upon the civility of thy Nature for they will oppress the innocent Life and bring grievous weights and burdens upon thy Soul and prolong the coming of the Lord whom thou lookest for and put the Day of thy Redemption a far off O beware of this compliance Let me put thee in mind of that sensible resolution so frequently and so passionately repeated Il faut que je rompe Il faut que je rompe Ah this speaketh a weight this weight a sense and this sense a strong Conviction Now be assured that till Obedience be yielded to that present manifestation and conviction the good things desired and thirsted after can never be Enjoyed Wherefore my dear Friend be faithful and watch against the Workings oâ— the Spirit of this World in thy self that the Nature and Image of it in all things may be crucified that thou mayst know an entire Translation with holy Enoch and walk with God Jesus the holy Light is this Cross and Power of God that killeth and maketh alive and 〈◊〉 is the heavenly Vine too if thou abideâ—â— in him thou wilt bring forth fruit bâ—â— if thou abidest not in him thou wilt noâ— bring forth that fruit in which his heavenly Father only can be glorified O see what the mind dayly abideth in O my Soul is even ravisht with the sence of that holy and quiet habitation In me saith he you shall have peace but in the World trouble however be of good cheer I have overcome the world I am not of the World as if he had said I am not of the Worlds ways Worships Customs nor Fashions for what ever is of the nature and spirit of this World hath no part in me and as I am not of this World neither are you of this world for I have chosen you out of the world out of the invention out of the worships and fashions â—f the world you are to leave them all to come out of them all and live and walk as Pilgrims in the world that is strangers To what To the life and practice of the World not using but renouncing the vain Customs and Ceremonies yea the whole Conversation of the World remembring that the friendship of this World is Enmity with God and what if the World hate you it hated me first and the Disciple is not greater than his Master nor the Servant than his Lord if you were of the World the World would love you and not reproach and persecute you for the World loveth its own O my dear Friend mayst thou be perfectly sensible what it is not to be of this World But there is yet a farther mystery in these Words not discerned even of many in whom some tenderness and inquiry is begotten much less of the worldly Christians This World hath a false Earth and a false Heaven a false Foundation and a false Ioy not only gross Wickedness but Iniquity in a Mystery inwardly and outwardly The Whore false Prophet and Dragon and all their Off-spring are here concerned This is their World that must be burnt with fire that Christ is not of nor his true Disciples O the Light of Jesus discovereth it And he is that spiritual Solomon that giveth true judgment and that saveth the living Child the true Birth giving it to the right Mother and not to the false pretender And all that hear his voice and follow him shall receive true Light discerning and Judgment to whom all Judgment is given They shall know his Voice from Man's There are two Trees of differing Natures have contrary Fruits and Leaves the one is the Tree of Life that is Christ the other the Tree of Death and that is Satan the fruit of the one giveth life the fruit of the other bringeth Death the leaves of the first Heal the leaves of the last Poison many that discern the Tree cannot clearly distinguish the Branches And those that see many Arms and Branches cannot distinctly behold the fruit much less the leaves this cometh by the gradual Discoveries and Revelations of the Light of Jesus the Word of God as it is daily received and daily obeyed yea and that Word is the Ax and Sword of the Almighty to cut it down daily feel the strokes of this eternal searching Light and Word at the very root of this corrupt Tree this evil one and his corrupt Nature Works and Effects for which end Jesus Christ is come and therefore is called a Saviour which is little known in truth to the Christians of this World Ah my dear Friend thou knowest this Word yea thou hast felâ— it O hide it in thy heart Treasure it up it up in thy Soul and love it and abide with it for ever Alas Whether shouldst thou go This hath and is the the Word of Eternal Life daily therefore watch and wait that thou mayest be grafted more and more into it that thou mayest live and grow by the virtue and life of it and that it may grow in thy heart as it grew among the first Christians the holy followers of the persecuted Jesus and when it searcheth thy Wound and cutteth away thy dead flesh yea when it separateth between the Soul and the Spirit of this World and divideth between Joints and Marrow when it cutteth off the right hand and plucketh out the right eye O watch unto Prayer and pray that thou mayest endure O keep the holy patience of this pure and living Word and this very Word will keep thee in the hour of thy sharpest Trials and sorest Tribulations O all virtue is in it O 't is a tried Word a sure refuge the staff and strength of the Righteous in all Ages 'T was David's Teacher and Buckler a Light to his feet and a Lamhorn to his Paths Walk thou in the Light thereof and thou shalt not stumble in this word is life as in the root and this life is the Light of Men They that receive and love the Light of it will therein receive divine Life from it to live to God this is the bread of God that cometh from God and seedeth and leadeth up to God by this only that which is born of God liveth and is nourished this is that Carcass to which the wise Eagles gather see thou gatherest to no other nor feâ—dest on no other This is that hidden Manna that cometh from heaven that feedeth God's Israel the World hath a Manna but it perisheth but this endureth for ever for 't is not of Man nor from Man but immortal and from God hid from the knowledge of all the vain Christians in the World So that the Israel of God can say to the Children of this World and that in Truth and
in which is Life his Candle hath hitherto rested on our Tabernacle and he hath made us glad in his own Salvation Eternal Glory to his excellent Name We immediately took a Post-Carr and came next day about two in the Afternoon to Cleve where we had a very pretious Meeting at an honest Procurator's House who received us with much love four or five more were present all Grave and Tender our Hearts were greatly affected with their love and simplicity We also visited the Lady Hubner who was kind to us Next Morning we set out for Nimeguen and thence immediately to Utrecht where we arrived that Night and took the Night-boat for Amsterdam because of a pressure upon my Spirit to be next day at the Meeting and the rather having intimated as much from Ceulen We arrived in the Morning at Amsterdam where we found our dear Friends generally well the City much Alarm'd and great Curiosity in some and Desires in others to come to the Meeting we had a very great Meeting and many People of note resorted God's Gospel Bell was rung the great Day of the great God sounded and the Dead was raised and much tenderness appeared in several O blessed be the Name of the Lord whose Work and Testimony prospereth The next day was spent in divers Affairs relating to the Truth The day following we had a Meeting with Galenus Abrahams the great Father of the Socinian Mennists in these Parts accompanied with several Preachers and others of his Congregation divers of our Friends were also present It continued about five Hours he affirmed in opposition to us That there was no Christian Church Ministry or Commission Apostolical now in the World but the Lord assisted us with his Wisdom and Strength to confound his Attempts Here endeth the Narrative I intend a Visit to the Hague to the Lady Overkirks Sister of the Somerdikes and some others that have sober Characters of Truth and Friends and thence to Rotterdam where I have much to do both with respect to Meetings and the Press G K. and B F. go with me Thus my Dear Friend have I given thee a tedious Narrative yet I hope not altogether unpleasant perhaps the brevity of my Letters hereafter may best Apologize for the length of this However I consider two things one is That thou hast time enough one time or other to look over it And next That I have plentifully as were thy requests demonstrated I have not forgotten thee O Dear Friend let us live and remember one another now absent in that Divine Sense in which the Lord God dissolv'd our Spirits when together O the Unity of this Faith the Purity of this Love and the Bond of this Peace The Lord Jesus be with thy Spirit and keep thee in this the Hour of thy Temptation that thou mayest come forth as Gold seven times tryed so shall thy Testimony shine for the God that hath called thee and he will reward thee with Honour Glory and Eternal Life Amen Thus saith the Lord I remember thee the kindness of thy Youth the love of thine Espousals when thou wentest after me in the Wilderness in a Land that was not sown Jerem. 2.2 Dear Friend consider this yet again The way of the just is Uprightness thou most upright do'st weigh the Paths of the Just yea in the Way of thy Judgment O Lord have we waited for thee the desire of our Soul is to thy Name and to the Remembrance of thee With my Soul have I desired thee in the Night yea with my Spirit within me will I seek thee early for when thy Judgments are in the Earth the Inhabitants of the World will learn Righteousness Lord thou wilt ordain Peace for us for thou hast wrought all our Works in us O Lord our God other Lords besides thee have had Dominion over us but by thee only we make mention of thy Name Lord in trouble have they visited thee they poured out a Prayer when thy chastning was upon them Like as a Woman with Child that draweth near the time of her Delivery is in Pain and cryeth out in her Pangs so have we been in thy Sight O Lord. We have been with Child we have been in Pain we have as it were brought forth Wind we have not wrought any Deliverance in the Earth neither have the Inhabitants of the World fallen Thy dead Men shall live together with my dead Body shall they arise awake and Sing ye that dwell in the Dust for thy Dew is as the Dew of Herbs and the Earth shall cast out the dead Come my People enter thou into thy Chamber and shut thy door about thee hide thy self as it were for a little moment until the Indignation be overpast For behold the Lord cometh out of his place to punish the Inhabitants of the Earth for their Iniquities the Earth also shall disclose her Blood and shall no more cover her Slain Isa 26.7 8. to 21. So come Dear Lord Jesus that was dead but is alive and liveth for ever Amen Very dearly Farewell Thy Friend that faithfully Travelleth for thy Redemption W.P. Amsterdam 10th of the 8th Month 1677. The same day we had a blessed Publick Meeting never to be forgotten O the Majesty Glory and Life that the Lord attended us with our Hearts were deeply affected with his Presence great Reverence and Brokenness was over the Meeting more than I had seen The Meeting done we were opposed by a Preacher who was closely encountred and pursued by several Merchants c. not of us that cryed he was Rude and Ignorant and that they had a Testimony for us who offered to Dispute in our Defence but the Priest run away they followed him till they housed him c. It was upon me this day to engage Galenus Abrahams to a second Conference that we might more fully debate and confute his grand Objections against the present Dispensation of Truth and the heavenly Ministry witnessed among Friends he refused not my offer of a second Meeting but sent me word his Business would not give him leave to let it be any time this day upon which the next was â—ixt for the Conference to begin at Eight which accordingly it did and held till One. The most impartial account of both these Conferences that I am briefly able to give followeth The Meeting ended and having refresht our selves after a solemn leave taken of our dear Friends at Amsterdam G. F. and I went that Night to Leyden accompanied by B. Furly coming there late at Night we forbore to inquire after any worthy in that place But the next Morning we found out two one a German of or near Darmstad who not only express'd much love to the Principle of Truth and unto us the Friends thereof but also informed us of a retired Person of great Quality that liveth about two hours back again towards Amsterdam at a Village called Nortwyck Our Resolutions of being